The Bastrop Advertiser (Bastrop, Tex.), Vol. 154, No. 103, Ed. 1 Thursday, February 21, 2008 Page: 3 of 20
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w Thursday, February 21, 2008
Vftt Bastrop Udocrtiscr ★ Page 3A
6 Visiting his grave
a hearts topper1
Mother reacts to gravesite vandalism
By Terry Hagerty
Staff Writer
Arend Gabro Higgs — known as
"Bo" to his friends at Bastrop Middle
School and Bastrop High School
— had the world in front of him.
"He had maiij close friends," Lisa
Higgs, his mother recalled.
In the summer of 1999, Bo was
preparing to start his senior year at
Texas A&M University.
It was early Sunday evening on
June 27, 1999.'
"It was just a group of kids, water-
skiing on Lake Bastrop the day of
the accident," Higgs said. "Our boys
were wonderful, well-liked Christian
kids who were great role models for
their friends. So, there was no drink-
ing or any crazy stuff going on out
there at the lake. It was just kids hav-
ing fun — and then the accident."
Bo Higgs was involved in a colli-
sion with a second boat while water-
skiing. He was taken by StarFlight
helicopter to Austin's Brackenridge
Hospital, where he died that night.
His parents decided to bury Bo at
Ridgeway Cemetery near Paige.
"Our decision to bury our child
at Ridgeway Cemetery was easy
because we were active members at
the Baptist church by the cemetery,"
Higgs said. "My husband was a dea-
con in the church and we still had
many friends there."
What ensued when the family
recently returned to the gravesite was
devastating for the Higgs.
"We had been taking gorgeous
stuff to decorate Bo's grave," Higgs
said, adding the family had moved to
the Houston area. "My mom prides
herself in having tilings to brighten up
Bo's place. For a while, the ladies at
the church said it was nothing to look
out on a Sunday afternoon and see
several of Bo's friends there."
But two flower planters and sev-
eral special wooden figurines wired
to a stand were taken last fall, and
in the last visit to her son's grave, in
January, Higgs said more items were
missing.
"Losing a son is difficult enough,
but visiting his grave has been a heart
stopper," Higgs said, referring to the
taken items.
Higgs said Paige-area resident
Barbara Saegert told her that a con-
crete angel and flower pots had also
been taken from the Ridgeway grave
of Saegert's niece.
"I was so upset that I never called
to report it to the Sheriff's (Office),"
Higgs said. "What people stole at that
cemetery, they couldn't get money for
— it's just so upsetting," Higgs said.
Vandalism at Bastrop
cemetery
Bastrop's Fairview Cemetery,
on Texas 95 just north of the
Texas 21 intersection, has also
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The Bastrop Advertiser photo/Terry Hagerty
A late 19th centuury headstone at Bastrop's Fairview Cemetery sits askew at a grave, perhaps the work of
vandals. The gravesites at several Bastrop County cemeteries have been vandalized.
been vandalized, but not recently,
said Lee Weatherford, the city's
public works director.
"A few years back we had
some vandalized headstones, but
haven't had anything to speak
of recently,'' Weatherford said
Monday. "Thankfully, we haven't
had any huge problems, but we
do have some people with sticky
fingers and items that went miss-
ing,"
A wrought iron fence fronting
the length of Texas 95 and an
eight-foot fence around the rest
of the exterior of the cemetery
seem to discourage unwanted vis-
itors, Weatherford said.
Bastrop police patrol Fairview
during the day and at night
the cemetery gates are locked,
Weatherford said.
A walk around the cemetery
Monday found no sign of marked
up, or tipped over, headstones,
although one tall headstone from
the late 1800s appeared to have
been turned askew and moved off
its cement base. A statue of the
Madonna was also face down,
but with its light weight its posi-
tion appeared to be due to the
wind. A visitor to another grave
walked over and quickly righted
the statue.
There are numerous mementos
at Fairview's gravesites — flow-
er packets, some real and some
artificial, benches, religious arti-
facts, flags and a replica of a
motorcycle
"We're looking to put in a
security camera in the future to
monitor people," Weatherford
said. "We'll be letting the public
know that will be watching and
use surveillance film for prosecu-
tion purposes, if needed."
A sign on the front gate of
Fairview Cemetery offers up to
a $500 reward for information
leading to the arrest and convic-
tion of anyone vandalizing the
cemetery.
Bastrop man dies after motorcycle accident
By Jacqueline Davis
Staff Writer
A Bastrop man died and
a Bastrop woman was seri-
ously injured after their
motorcycle skidded off
the road east of Smithville
Sunday morning, said
Department of Public
Safety Trooper Raymond
Bradshaw.
At 11:25 a.m., Rogers
Darnell Anderson, 47. was
riding his 2008 Honda
Goldwing on Texas 71
about a half mile east of
Smithville city limits and
a half mile west of Old
Lake Road with a passen-
ger, Loretta Ponce Day, 43,
Bradshaw said.
A witness said Anderson
was passing another vehi-
cle and for unknown rea-
sons traveled off the road-
way for about 300 feet
before he lost control of the
motorcycle, and both were
ejected, Bradshaw said.
Upon ejection, Anderson
and the motorcycle were
lying in the roadway and
Day was lying in the medi-
an, Bradshaw said.
Both were airlifted to
Brackenridge Hospital in
Austin, where Anderson
was pronounced dead at
9:30 p.m. Sunday. Day sus-
tained broken bones and
was in serious condition
Sunday night, Bradshaw
said.
The accident is still
under investigation, but
Bradshaw said he had no
reason to believe excessive
speed was at fault. Both
riders were wearing hel-
mets, but the speed limit
in that area is 70 niph, he
said.
"If you leave pavement
and go onto soft dirt and
grass, you're going to start
losing traction," Bradshaw
said. "His bike was a road
bike, not a dirt bike. I could
tell by looking at the area
he was riding, he was fight-
ing control the whole way.
You can see it in the tracks
the bike left on the side of
the road."
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McAuley, Davis. The Bastrop Advertiser (Bastrop, Tex.), Vol. 154, No. 103, Ed. 1 Thursday, February 21, 2008, newspaper, February 21, 2008; Bastrop, Texas. (https://texashistory.unt.edu/ark:/67531/metapth252458/m1/3/: accessed May 22, 2024), University of North Texas Libraries, The Portal to Texas History, https://texashistory.unt.edu; crediting Bastrop Public Library.